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Rossland (Trauga)
The Kingdom of Rossland is an absolute monarchy located in the continent of Shackleton. Native groups like the Luipa and the Kapwin were the first to settle the continent, but in 1533, famed explorer Wang Wu from the country of Shazan discovered the continent during an expedition. The Shazanese King, Dwang III, created several settlements (some of them inland), one of which is now the national capital of Rossland. Catching sense of Shazan’s moves, other nations joined near the end of 1500s; but the Shazanese settlers were the only ones to survive in the long-run, thanks to their better relationships with natives and the relative cold of the continent. The secret behind the Shazanese success was commercial and cultural; Shazanese had little problem intermarrying with the natives, and to a lesser extent, this applied vice versa. They also traded extensively. Shazanese settlers were generally used to the relative coldness; many Shazanese hailed from a region not that much warmer than Rossland back in the day. By the 1700s intermarriage had created a class of Shackletonian called glapa. As years passed, their importance in what was now called Rossland increased. Nonetheless, the large continent remained politically divided for many years, between various tribes. That changed in late 1700s, when, fed up with political tensions, the Shazanese initiated a period of intense lobbying for unification. The lesser tribes on the continent ignored the plea, only to be subjugated during the First Civil War. Famed Kapwin leader Chief Lopan used the great power of the Kapwin Nation at his disposal, along with the support of two other powerful tribes and heavy aid from Shazan, to defeat the lesser tribes. Under Lopan’s leadership, a charter was enacted, which allowed for a throne that would rotate between the Kapwin, Doipe, Clouva, and Naso. It also allowed for a level of self-governance among tribes, and a national council of tribes that could vacate the decisions of the King. This outcome, acceptable to all parties, was lauded by the stability-minded Shazanese King, who looked forward to being able to focus on other things beside Rosslandian instability. Over the course of the next four decades though, political tensions increased again. At the center of the tension were the Kapwin and Naso demands for increased mining and trading with foreign powers, as well as a more powerful military, funded by higher taxes. The national council was, however, dominated by their opponents, and underweighted their power. Even in the face of a few hostile military incursions, the lesser tribes largely resisted the demands. In the 1840s, the passage of a measure to levy a tax on only the Kapwin and Naso (the rationale being that they were the richest tribes) to fund a navy sparked the Second Civil War. The Kapwin and Naso won easily within a few years with the help of the Shazanese, and instituted an absolute monarchy. After the war, the national council was abolished, and a rotating absolute monarchy was formed; individual tribes retained a level of autonomy, but all over the continent, the King ruled supreme. This political model has survived to the present day. By the end of the 1800s, after decades of industrialization, and economic expansion, new forces appeared on the scene. World powers began look at Rossland, but by now it was a powerful enough to stand up on its own; it had a navy. Rossland, meanwhile, boomed economically; oil was found on parts of its coast, and in the 1920s oil began to be drilled on offshore oil platforms off the coast. Its output from iron and coal mining was not insignificant, and its somewhat isolated location, as a large continent in the far south with no land boundaries, gave it added protection from invasion. The Rossese kings, nonetheless, generally worked to avoid involving the country in war, focusing instead on keeping up a strong defense, having good relations with its commercial partners, and building strong infrastructure. In recent decades Rossland has worked to diversify its economy from committees oil and natural gas to sectors like finance and tourism. The National Petroleum Fund manages the profits from Rossese oil (which is sold via the state-owned Petro Rossland), and funds extensive social programs. Thanks to profits from oil, gas, and other commodities, taxes remain low on companies and individuals; Rosslanders pay a flat income tax of 5%. In years of low oil prices, taxes are generally higher, and social programs less generous.